Renown Health officials gave the media a preview on Wednesday of the Tahoe Tower now under construction at Renown Regional Medical Center. / David B. Parker/Reno Gazette-Journal

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Renown Health officials on Wednesday gave the media an early peek at the company's $240 million expansion on its main Reno medical center campus.

From the 10-story Tahoe Tower's roof-top helicopter landing pads to still-in-the-making operating rooms and patient rooms, the attention to detail will be unprecedented when the complex opens in September, said Newton Chase, Renown's director of facilities.

Examples include tubing inside the concrete landing pads to melt ice and snow, high-speed elevators down to the emergency room, and four air-controlled rooms on each floor for patients with airborne infections.

In the 18-room surgery suite, cameras will be part of the lighting fixtures and airflow will change the air on average 26 times per hour, compared with 16 in the hospital's existing operating rooms.

In the patient rooms, the amenities include crown molding, flat-screen TVs, ceiling lights with nature scenes and a "family zone" with pull-out couch for visitors.

"We're trying to get a 'hotel' feel," Chase said. "We're trying to lessen the anxiety. The more we reduce stress, the faster the recovery process is.

"It's all about the details."

It will show in the tower's main entry, promising a hotel-lobby feel with plenty of windows and multifloor open space.

And it's apparent in the new emergency area, too, where privacy will be a prime concern. Glass windows will separate the staff's oval desk from those entering and leaving the nearby exam rooms, thereby allowing for discussions without fear of being overheard, Chase said.

"This is a big state, but this is still a small town," he said.

A multistory, 1,690-space parking garage is already open, accessible from Second Street.

When the entire complex is finished in September, the main circular entrance into the complex will be from Mill Street.